


Covenant

by fantaque



Category: N.Flying (Band)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:48:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26987005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fantaque/pseuds/fantaque
Summary: The eldest sons of the four high families are learning to harness their powers to prepare them for the responsibilities that their predecessors will eventually pass on to them.  But as a new school year starts, they encounter a mysterious force that threatens to destroy the balance their families have carefully protected for generations.
Kudos: 12
Collections: Covenant





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A fantasy AU focusing mostly on N.Flying. Appearances by SF9, Cherry Bullet, Hongki, Choa, Yonghwa, etc.

Prologue 

Lee Seunghyub found it ridiculous that a student would transfer schools during the final year of High School. Surely, whatever the reason her parents had of moving could’ve waited until she graduated. Transferring her would be insensitive knowing how cruel high schoolers can be.

He lazily spun his pen around as the teacher told them about the new student who was waiting outside to be introduced. “Be nice,” their teacher told them sternly before making her way to the door to let the new student in. 

She walked in slowly, her shoulders hunched forward in an attempt to make herself even smaller. From his point of view, she looked like a foot shorter than he was. Although, he might be exaggerating. She hugged a file folder to her chest, looking at her feet as she faced the class.

He sensed nothing special. Just another human.

“Go on, introduce yourself, honey.” Ms. Kim encouraged, placing a hand on the new student’s shoulder. 

“Hi, I’m Im Minji.” She said without looking up. “I hope we can be friends.”

The class broke into a quiet and awkward applause, then Ms. Kim sent Minji to an empty in front of Seunghyub’s. She gingerly placed her file folder on the table, seemingly afraid of disturbing her new seatmate. He watched as Choe Taemi smiled warmly at the new arrival, which made Minji a little more confident as she hooked her backpack on the chair and made herself comfortable. It was logical to have her sit with Taemi, the class president would make the transition easier. 

“I’m Taemi,” Taemi began, patting Minji’s hand. “You can come to me anytime if you need help or have questions, ok?”

“Okay,” Minji replied, smiling slightly before the class directed their attention to Ms. Kim who started the class.

Minutes passed and he was slowly getting lost in his thoughts as he recalled the lesson he and his brothers had with the head of the coven yesterday. Creation – a high level of illusion magic. His head whipped to the window beside him as time seemed to stop. Just as he thought it, a creation spell was being performed. A figure stood in the middle of the football field, corpse-like in nature, staring straight at him. He felt a chill run down his spine as the darkling held his gaze and he felt his air supply slowly cutting off. 

He didn’t know he was held in that spell for a little over thirty minutes until the bell signalled the end of Ms. Kim’s class. He jumped in his seat, the spell breaking on its own. He looked around and saw his classmates already starting to get up for lunch. He can’t believe a spell had locked him in for so long. Was it that powerful? Or was he just caught off guard?

“Hyung!” Kim Jaehyun called from the door, Cha Hun and Yoo Hweseung in tow. Their maknae held up a big lunch bag as they waved him over. 

He observed them for a few seconds, noticing a slight difference in their demeanor. 

They saw it, too.


	2. Visions

Visions 

Seunghyub awoke with a start and in a cold sweat. He sat up and struggled to catch his breath as he looked around his room. He didn’t know what he was looking for and he didn’t find anything save for the fact that the clock on his nightstand let him know that it was three thirteen in the morning. He knew that he had a dreamless sleep but the panic in his chest was insistent. Closing his eyes, he took a long, deep and calming breath before running a hand through his hair.

When he felt his heart slow down a bit, he rubbed the sleep off his face before turning to the window. It was a clear night sky, the moonlight illuminating his room through the open curtains. He didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary. If there was, the coven leader, Hongki, would’ve already called for him and his brothers. 

He reached for his phone on his night stand, squinting a bit when the glare of the light reached his eyes. Once he had adjusted his vision, the group chat with his brothers had more than two hundred unread messages. He read through them, one by one and thoroughly. 

Hun and Jaehyun talked about their classes and homework. Hweseung and Hun talked about cookie recipes. Jaehyun and Hweseung talked about how they wanted to go to this new arcade in the city. He had fallen asleep at nine the night before. A few times, he was mentioned but he must’ve been in too deep of a sleep to notice. Eventually, he reached the end of the chat, his brothers have said “good night” at around two in the morning. There was another group chat with unread messages, but he would read them later. He wasn’t too keen on reading more than a thousand chat messages. 

There was no point lying back down, he knows he won’t be able to sleep. He threw the blankets off of him and he got up, putting on a shirt and made his way towards the kitchen. Might as well get something to eat. 

He found the kitchen light turned on and he could make out his sister’s form perched on one of the stools around the kitchen counter. Her auburn hair fell in curls on her back, her legs tucked into her chest as she balanced herself on the stool and cradled a bowl in her hands.

She was pushing around the contents of the bowl, in deep thought. He didn’t need to look to know that the bowl was filled with peanut butter Cap’n Crunch, it has been her favorite comfort food since she was three. 

“May?” He called to her gently so as to not startle her. She looked up at him, tired but with eyes wide and pleading. He took gentle steps towards the kitchen counter and sat opposite her. “Have you slept?”

“For about an hour,” she grumbled, looking back down to her now soggy cereal. She absentmindedly shoved the box towards him. “Cereal?”

“Nightmare?” he asked, reaching over to the side of the counter to grab himself a bowl. 

“No,” she said absentmindedly, fixated on the slush of cereal and milk she was stirring around. “It was bizarre. I had no dreams but I woke up in a panic.”

May rarely had dreamless sleep. Often, she would see visions but she didn’t know if they were from the past or future. The elders deduced she was a seer, like their mother, and had been helping her hone it as she grows older.

For May to have a dreamless sleep is a little bit unsettling. This has happened only once before, the night before their mother was killed when he was thirteen and she was eleven. The coven wasn’t able to save her as it happened in broad daylight in the midst of a market often flooded with humans. She chose to die rather than reveal her coven.

Him, on the other had, had been discovered to have a good grasp of both light and dark magic when he was seven. It was by accident, of course, during one of the lessons he had with the coven leader and his brothers. He had managed to help control the sudden influx of dark magic that had taken over Hun, one so powerful it had almost killed Jaehyun. He acted on instinct and injured his knee in the process. He didn’t know how he did it but he remembered his aunts embracing him, thanking him for saving their children’s lives.

It wasn’t long after that Hongki announced he would be his heir. At seven years old, he wasn’t sure how that would affect his life. His mother was hesitant at first, afraid that Hongki’s wife, Choa, would protest not choosing their son, Hweseung, as the heir. But Choa had assured his mother that she also felt Seunghyub was meant to take over after Hongki.

“Why are you awake?” she asked him, taking a bite of her cereal. He raised an eyebrow at her and she snorted a laugh. She always knows. “Caution.”

“No one has infiltrated our coven yet.” He said to assure her. 

“Yet,” she echoed, rolling her eyes. She set the bowl down on the counter. She sighed deeply, like a burden was weighing down on her chest, “We’re not invincible, oppa.” 

“I know,” he agreed, pouring milk in the bowl after he filled it with cereal. He looked at her again, confident. “That’s why we’re learning from the elders, right?” When she didn’t respond, he continued, “I know mom is very proud of you. You’re the reason why our camping trip didn’t end up with us getting killed. One day, you’ll be as powerful a Seer as she was.” He went on to remind her that it was her gifts that saved them last year. 

_Seunghyub, tired of the same routine of lessons during the summer and worried about the possibility of overworking among the younger members of the coven, had approached Hongki and asked if he could take his brothers and sisters out camping. Hongki was surprised by Seunghyub’s sudden suggestion, but felt his genuine concern. Smiling at his successor, Hongki granted them an entire weekend. Just them with no elders to dictate what they should do._

_May foresaw the rogue group of seven warlocks mere minutes before they descended upon their little campsite by the river. It was enough to give Haeyoon the time to send a signal to the elders while the eldest members of the group prepared the group’s defenses. There wasn’t enough time for a protection spell on everyone but they had managed to hold their own until the elders arrived. The attack left Rowoon with an injured back and Youngbin with a broken leg. But he took the brunt of one particularly powerful blow, jumping in front of Jaehyun who had hesitated casting an offensive spell against one of the rogues._

_It took a good three days for him to wake up and when he did, Jaehyun was the first person he saw. His brother sat on a chair beside his bed, hiccuping through a waterfall of tears and endlessly apologizing for not being able to go through with the spell. He had laughed at his brother’s ugly-crying but immediately regretted it, clutching at his chest. The rogue had left his mark, a huge scar that looked like a blast marred his chest. He remembered not caring and put in all his effort to ruffle his brother’s hair. “Crybaby,” he had teased, which only caused Jaehyun to cry some more._

"If you hadn't seen them, I wouldn't be alive today," he reminded her. She smiled up at him weakly but grateful at his encouragement. Seunghyub was always like that with people he loves, he made sure they feel that love. He just wanted everyone around him to be happy and safe and he was willing to put his life on the line for it. 

They spent the next three hours talking about random things, from May’s homework to how Seunghyub’s feet easily get cold. She then told him about the new boy in her class. This caught his attention. “He’s a transfer?” he asked her.

“Yeah,” she shrugged. “He recently lost his parents and his foster parents are the Chou’s. Pretty quiet kid: jumpy and looks like he’s scared of everything. Probably the trauma of losing his parents.”

“Has he talked to you?” His eyes narrowed. He stopped himself before he formed a fist with his hand.

May snorted out a laugh at him going overprotective brother mode. “Oppa,” she scolded. “He wouldn’t even look up from his feet.”

“Right, right,” he brushed off, standing up and taking the bowls to the sink. “You’ve barely turned sixteen and humans don’t usually take kindly to us.”

“Not all humans are like that,” May defended, standing up, too. They did only have a little over thirty minutes left to prepare to leave for school. 

“I know, princess,” Seunghyub placed a kiss on her temple before ruffling her hair and making his way back to his room. There are humans within their community, the ones that married into their families. _But..._ “But we can’t be too careful.”

\--

Seunghyub had a cup of coffee in hand when Hwiyoung trudged down the stairs, ready for school. The younger boy raised an eyebrow at him, "You're early."

"May and I have been up since three." Seunghyub replied, finishing the coffee in one gulp when May joined them in the kitchen. 

"What were you doing awake at three in the morning?" Hwiyoung asked as he buttered his toast. May and Seunghyub looked at each other, this just confirmed that Hwiyoung didn't feel it. But did the others feel it?

"I couldn't get back to sleep," May felt bad about lying, but she knew Seunghyub didn't want to scare their adoptive brother unless anything worth their attention is confirmed. "Nightmare. It was about the camping trip last summer."

"You're getting those often," Hwiyoung commented, pouring himself a glass of water when he finished his toast. "Anything we can do to help?"

"Hun said he'll work on something for her," Seunghyub decided to end the conversation, there was no need to alert anyone yet. But he would bring this up with Hongki at the end of the day. He grabbed his backpack and made his way to the garage. "Let's get going, we don't want to be late."

\--

Their little community isn’t that far from their school, just a ten minute drive, in fact. Around 1914, they had travelled to the USA to avoid the growing suspicion of their magical heritage in their home in South Korea. Among the 9,226 Korean immigrants, their community quietly settled in New Orleans, away from the majority who had chosen California and Hawaii. The coven head at that time had chosen New Orleans as it had already embraced supernatural culture. This was a perfect cover for them. For generations, they have kept their secret from the world as the Asian community grew in the USA. Their abilities allowed them to thrive and their community had done and is doing very well for themselves. With their community firmly established in New Orleans, the local government usually turned to them to help settle Asian immigrants in the Crescent City.

They went to a private school at the edge of the city. It had been the only school to cater Asian immigrants when they first arrived. So, naturally, generation after generation of their community all had their education at this school. In turn, the school had developed a large number of Asian students over the years. 

New Orleans Academy was built in the early 1800s, when the French regained power over New Orleans. The original structure of the school bore some classic French colonial designs. A grand welcoming fountain installment in front of the entrance with a stone path circling it that eventually leads you to the curved double staircase on both sides of a perfectly symmetrical lobby raised above ground. There’s also a ridge roof hovering above it, supported by a pair of large marble columns. This old building now houses the administrations, teachers’ rooms and other boring offices for the grown-ups. There are rumors that there are secret passages and structures underneath the building but students have little to no access to the grounds.

Other recently built blocks surrounding the old building adopted minimal modernism style but did not compromise the classic feature of the original design. Modern glass filled buildings are covered with corridors and arch facades. The arches remind people of the historical side of the hundred-year-old school, while the thin all-white columns give the whole school a luxurious and graceful look. The flat roof structures also provide lots of additional rooftop areas, creating a diversity of public spaces for the students. They have a large botanical garden, an infinity pool, even a multi-purpose sports grass field. Why play football on the ground when you can play it in the middle of the sky?

Among those various top notched rooftops, there is a very special one sitting on top of the new library building at the corner of the school yard. It’s claimed by Seunghyub and his brothers and sisters, often used as their hideout. Students usually avoid the area solely because of the noise and chaos their group tend to bring everywhere with them

\--

The morning classes went pretty smoothly and by lunch, he found himself on their favorite rooftop. Away from the prying eyes of the rest of the school, they would meet here and have their meal however they wanted. 

Jaehyun was sitting beside his best friend, Hun, who was quietly opening his lunchbox. Jaehyun was often loud and boisterous while Hun was quiet and calm. They both believe they are the two sides of the same coin, "soulmates" would be the best word to describe them. Jaehyun’s light energy helped control Hun’s dark energy and in turn, Hun’s calm helps reign in Jaehyun’s excessive energy. On Jaehyun’s other side, Hweseung was already halfway through his lunch, happily devouring the kimbap he and Hun made the night before with Rowoon. 

Hweseung was an interesting kid, he had so much talent and power, more so than Seunghyub, and one would think he would be the natural successor of his father as the head of the coven. But even at an early age, Hweseung deliberately avoided showing the control he had with his magic, he didn’t want the responsibility. So, the burden fell on Seunghyub’s shoulders and he accepted gracefully. Hweseung admired him for that, for accepting such a heavy burden and the younger boy promised he would back up his hyung no matter what. 

So, here they were, Seunghyub, Jaehyun, Hun and Hweseung, the four children of the four high families of their coven, gifted with exceptional power and abilities. But with their power came a great burden, the responsibility towards their coven: to keep it safe and to keep it secret from the world that would condemn them for it.


	3. Free Period

Free Period

Seunghyub felt a little sleepy after lunch, he should not have eaten that last quarter roll of kimbap. But he did and it left him feeling heavy. He slumped back in his seat and saw that Inseong was also fighting to stay awake a few rows up front, rubbing his face aggressively. Rowoon, Hweseung and Hun made so much kimbap and they all but inhaled their lunch. They always go overboard with quantity when they cook together, Rowoon would say “one more roll in case someone gets extra hungry” about four or five times before Hun would stop him.

Mr. Simmons, their science teacher, had just announced that they would be working with partners for their next homework and Seunghyub hoped that he’d get paired up with Inseong. It’s not that he didn’t want to work with his other classmates, but he would rather not be away from his family too long. Youngbin and Haeyoon need all the help they can get keeping the younger kids from blowing up everything. But as the person next to him called out the number twelve, he knew he would be partnered with the new girl, Minji. Poor Youngbin will just have to deal with the 2Idiots and the chaotic trio by himself for the next two days.

He spared Minji a glance and the girl was hunched over her notebook, pretending to write. She barely spoke since her first day and even when getting called to answer questions, her answers would be as short as possible that it made him wonder if she developed the skill of shortening her thoughts. It would be a long two days. 

“Deadline is Thursday midnight, a minute late and it will no longer be accepted.” Mr. Simmons closed his laptop just as the bell rang, signaling the end of his period. The class clamoured to pack their belongings and rush out the door for their free period. “Make sure to keep it under three-thousand words.” The teacher called out to them.

_At least we have that to our advantage._ Seunghyub thought as he swung his backpack over his shoulder. Inseong signalled to him as his brother walked towards the door, leaving with his partner. Seunghyub decided he would use this free period to work on the paper if Minji wanted to. 

“I’ll see you at lunch tomorrow, Seunghyub,” Taemi told him as she passed by, also walking out with her partner. “Student council meeting, just for fifteen minutes.” He nodded to her before she crossed the threshold.

Minji was always the last to leave so he approached her desk where she was slowly packing her bag. “Hey,” he knocked on her desk and she jumped even when he addressed her very gently, looking up with him with large, doe-like eyes. 

“Sorry,” he said in a much quieter tone. “Do you want to work on that paper? We have free period.”

“U-uhm,” she stuttered, blushing as she broke their eye contact. She fiddled with her fingers, her nervousness evident. “S-sure, I have n-nothing better t-to do.”

“Let’s go?” he asked, offering his hand. 

She looked at it in confusion before shifting to look at him in the eye again, questioning.

“I’ll carry your books.” He told her, signaling to the book bag she had that looked bigger than her backpack. “You should get a locker so you don’t have to carry all these around with you. Anne can get you one, just talk to her in the administration’s office.”

“T-thank you,” she replied shyly, tucking her book with the others into the book bag. Seunghyub reached for it and lifted it with little effort. Then she followed him out the door.

As soon as they were out the door though, a loud noise was coming nearer and nearer. Minji quickly hid behind Seunghyub as soon as an insanely tall boy dragged a much shorter boy behind him, their voices loud enough to wake the dead.

“NO!” Chani screamed, trying to find something to hold onto with his left hand as his other hand was locked in a deathgrip by Rowoon. “I DON’T WANT TO!”

“ONE!” Rowoon yelled back even louder, easily taking the younger boy’s weight as he dragged him through the hallway where their commotion had gathered a small audience. It was always fun to see Rowoon and Chani in their natural environment. “JUST ONE!”

The sleek, tiled floors did not do Chani much of a favor and he could not, for the life of him, find a foothold. But he saw his chance as he and Rowoon passed by right in front of Seunghyub, there was an open window and he jumped for it, successfully locking his hand on the frame. Seunghyub snorted back a laugh as Rowoon was abruptly pulled back from Chani’s sudden stop. 

“What are you two doing?” Seunghyub asked as Rowoon tried to pry Chani’s hand off the window frame. 

“Taking him to audition for the end of Fall play,” Rowoon grunted when he finally loosened Chani’s grip. "YES!"

“NOOOOOOOOOO!” Chani screamed as Rowoon lifted him easily over his shoulder. “PUT! ME! DOWN!”

“Ok, good luck?” Seunghyub’s amusement was evident on his face as Rowoon paused in front of him. 

“Thanks, hyung,” Rowoon smiled, victorious. Then he saluted before making his way towards the auditorium, Chani kicking and screaming the entire way.

Seunghyub shook his head and laughed at his dongsaeng’s antics and turned to Minji who was huddling into herself behind him. “My friends from the Korean community in the city, they’re nice kids.” He explained, but she didn’t seem convinced. “I know they’re loud but they really are nice, just… chaotic.”

She hesitated and looked around, most likely to check if there were more of them. “I promise, they’re all really good kids. Just loud.” Seunghyub laughed at the concern on her face. “In fact, you can approach any of them and they’d be more than happy to help you with anything.”

“So,” she said timidly, moving forward when Seunghyub started to walk. “There are more of them?”

“Yeah,” Seunghyub nodded as they turned the corner. He walked at a slower pace than usual, since Minji’s steps were as tiny as she was. She acted like she could break at any sudden movement. _What happened to her?_ Seunghyub thought to himself. She looked like she was riddled with anxiety. “There are twenty of us who are childhood friends because of our Korean community.”

“M-must be gr-great to have child-hood f-friends,” Minji looked down at her feet again, hugging her folder to her chest.

“What do you mean?” Seunghyub looked down at her curiously. It was such an odd thing to say. Or maybe not. Not everyone shares his fortune when it comes to his family.

“My p-parents always moved f-from city t-to city because of th-the nature of their w-work,” she shared, her voice still a stuttering mess. “S-so, I have diff-different schools each year.” Seunghyub began to think of ways to help her get over her nervousness, like having her hang out with his sisters. It would be too overwhelming to have her join all of them at once. It must not have been easy being in a different school each year, there was no way she could have formed a friendship with anyone. 

“How about I introduce you to my sister and her friends?” Seunghyub offered, opening one of the double doors of the library and stepped aside to allow Minji to walk in first. After all, their community was always the first to be approached when new immigrants came to New Orleans, a new student wouldn’t be so different. “They could show you around. Rest assured, my sister and the girls are a lot calmer than the boys.”

“That sounds n-nice,” she smiled shyly up at him and crossed the threshold of the library. “Thank you.”

\---

A girl’s blood curdling scream echoed through the hallways of the academy, causing Seunghyub and Minji to look up from the paper they were working on in the library. His heart leapt, he knew that voice. His sister! He instantly focused on her, tracing their blood bond, he found her energy on the third floor. The girl’s bathroom.

“Wh-what was that?” Minji asked, curling into herself. 

Minji jumped when without a word, Seunghyub shot up from his seat and ran like a madman towards the girl’s bathroom on the third floor. _May!_ His mind screamed. He pushed anyone and everyone out of his way, screaming at them to let him through. 

A crowd had gathered outside the girl’s bathroom when he got there. “Out of my way!” He yelled, squeezing through students who craned their neck to see what was going on. He saw her, shaking in the arms of her best friend, Remi and surrounded by some of his brothers and sisters. “May!” 

“O-Oppa,” Her voice trembled as she called for him. The fear in his sister’s eyes as she looked at him made him sick to his stomach. With two long strides he reached her and she fell into his arms with a loud sob as Remi lets her go. She buried her head in his chest and he could feel her cold hands through his shirt and she grabbed fistfulls of its fabric. 

“What happened?” He asked her gently, supporting her weight now. She had completely let her guard down, knowing she was safe with her brother so her knees gave way. Her fear washed over him in waves. “Please tell me,” he stroked her hair in an attempt to comfort her but she only let out a choked sob. 

“T-taemi-unnie,” Remi answered for her friend as she fiddled with her fingers. She, too, was shaking and he could see she was barely holding on. “She… she’s in the b-bathroom. She’s d-dead.”

The crowd broke into loud whispers. Jaehyun and Hweseung tried to make them go away but no one would listen. _Where were the teachers!?_ Seunghyub thought angrily. _Someone should be here by now._

“Hyung,” Hun spoke, getting his attention. He had just walked out of the bathroom, his face blank. As he looked up at Hun, an image was projected in his mind.

Taemi lay slumped in the bathroom cubicle, eyes wide with fear, her lips were pale and her mouth opened in a silent scream. She looked drenched and her skin was grey and wrinkled as if she was soaked in water for a long time. The area around her had pooled with water but the rest of the bathroom floor was dry. No sign of leaks can be found anywhere. 

Seunghyub broke the projection Hun had sent him, his breathing heavy from the image of one of his friends being dead. He just saw her thirty minutes ago. Her death didn’t make sense unless magic was involved. Killing someone would send a spike of dark energy around them, But he nor his brothers felt any magic being used that day other than from their coven. Not one of the sorcerers or witches from their coven had performed a spell that powerful. Who was doing this and how are they so good at shadowing their magic? 

“Let’s get the girls out of here.” His thoughts were broken by Jaehyun who had laid a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. He looked down on his sister who was still sobbing into his shirt. He nodded stiffly, leading May to the rooftop with his brothers and Remi.

They passed several teachers who were already running towards the third floor bathroom. _It’s about time,_ he grimaced, noting Samuel Han followed at a much more leisurely pace behind the faculty members. His eyes narrowed as the vice principal didn’t seem bothered at all.

“Call the others.” He told Hweseung who wordlessly split from their group to follow the instruction.

Youngbin fell into step with him. Seunghyub had finally realized Youngbin, Inseong, Jaeyoon and Dawon were already there. He looked around and Haeyoon was also there, she had her arms around Remi. “I didn’t feel anything.” He didn’t need to look to know that it was Youngbin who spoke. 

“None of us did,” Hun sounded bitter. This was dark magic, a field of magic he was supposed to be “gifted” at but he didn’t detect any of it used today. He could’ve saved Taemi.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Jaehyun told him, already sensing a spike in Hun’s dark energy. He wrapped his hand around his best friend’s wrist in an attempt to help him calm down. “Whoever it was that did this, clearly knows about us and knows how to shadow their magic from us.”

“Twenty witches and sorcerers in one area at the same time.” Inseong pondered as the group climbed the narrow staircase towards the rooftop in twos. “Who could be powerful enough to make sure none of us detected anything?”

“Other covens within our vicinity wouldn’t be this stupid.” Haeyoon sneered, holding Remi close. “They know the law and they know the accords. They know what will happen if they break it.”

“Not to mention the fact that none of the other covens have a member powerful enough to pull something like this off.” Dawon agreed, opening the door to the rooftop and the group filed in. 

They sat in a circle, Seunghyub’s arm around May who was tucked into his side. They sat in silence for the next few minutes. No one questioned this, no one started to speak. They need all their brothers and sisters here. A few more minutes passed and the door to the rooftop opened again, Hweseung walking through it with the rest of their group behind him. They adjusted their seating arrangement and they had formed a bigger circle. 

Without hesitation, Seunghyub, Youngbin and Haeyoon performed a veiling spell, effectively cutting the group off from the world. To onlookers, the group was their usual crack-head selves, comforting May and Remi, not knowing the seriousness of the conversation under the veil.


	4. Nightmare

“A dreamless sleep,” Hun parroted, looking at May incredulously. He turned to Seunghyub sharply, “Both of you?”

“Yes,” Seunghyub turned his eyes to the ground, he knew why Hun was angry. They always tell each other everything and for the first time, he hid this from his brothers and sisters. “I wanted to talk to Hongki about it first.”

“And you didn’t mention this, why?” Hun frowned.

“I didn’t want to cause unnecessary panic after the darkling the other day,” Seunghyub reasoned. But as he said it out loud, he thought it was ridiculous too. When it comes to magical activity, they always handled it together. For him to have kept the incident that morning, he understood why Hun was pressed.

“Hyung,” Jaehyun started, watching Hun from the corner of his eye. Hun’s dark energy was still unstable, he was still upset. “We never keep anything like this from each other, you said so yourself.”

“I know,” Seunghyub put a hand on his forehead in frustration. 

“I should’ve said something, too,” May spoke up, hugging herself while rubbing her forearm. She was still feeling the chills when she saw Taemi. They were not close, but Taemi was a part of their Korean community. She was still a friend. “We could’ve done something.”

“I don’t think there was anything we could’ve done,” Inseong concluded, when his brothers and sisters looked up at him curiously, he sighed deeply. “Not even Hun felt the spike of dark energy needed to take a life, and Hun is the most in touch with dark magic among all of us. What chance did we have even if Seunghyub-hyung and May have said anything?”

“But the darkling,” Hweseung reminded them. “We all saw it.”

The group fell silent. It wasn’t adding up. One thing they were sure of, whoever they were, they could manipulate what they wanted to show and not show. That in itself was a huge feat of magic, considering the number of witches and warlocks in their group.

“ATTENTION STUDENTS,” everyone jumped a little as the speakers turned on. It was Vice Principal Samuel Han, with his could-not-care-less monotone voice. “The rest of the classes today and classes tomorrow will be suspended. Investigations regarding the incident will take place but expect classes to resume AS NORMAL on Thursday.” The announcement ended slantedly, just like how it began. Seunghyub’s brows furrowed, the man did not sound the least bit concerned that there was a student that just died. 

“Let’s go home and take this up to Hongki,” Seunghyub announced, as Youngbin and Haeyoon lifted the veil . His siblings all hesitated before standing up. “Everyone needs to stay in the compound tomorrow.” He instructed. “Any activity for school or otherwise, needs to be done at home.”

“How about group activities?” Chani asked. “Hwiyoung, May, Remi and I have this thing with a kid in our class.”

“Take them to the compound.” 

“Oh shit!” Inseong exclaimed, getting up really fast.

“What’s wrong?” Dawon asked as he helped Chaerin stand. 

“I left my partner!” Inseong sprinted towards the door as he called back to them. “I’ll see you guys at home!”

“Crap!” Seunghyub cursed under his breath, realizing Minji must still be in the library. He did leave all his stuff. 

“What’s wrong?” Hweseung parroted Dawon’s earlier question to Inseong.

“That girl in my class, I also left her in the library when I heard May.” He answered and hurried to the door after Inseong.

\--

He saw Minji hadn’t left her seat at the library. She fidgeted with her pen and looked around nervously. After the events today, he felt obligated to drive her home.

He approached her cautiously, remembering how she jumped earlier in the classroom. He made his footsteps a little louder to let her know someone was there. Minji turned around and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw him. “W-what was the i-incident?” 

Seunghyub paused and tried to think of a way to tell her without spooking her. “There was - uh - an accident in the girl’s bathroom.” He answered as he started packing up his things, avoiding eye contact.

“What a-accident?”

“I’m sure the school staff will make an announcement on Thursday,” he diverted with a calmer voice, zipping up his backpack. “Pack up, I’ll take you home.”

“O-okay,” he knew his tone left nothing for discussion and he watched her clumsily pack up her notebook and pens. When she was zipping up her backpack, he hauled her ridiculously large book bag over his shoulder again. 

“We can finish our paper at my house tomorrow, if that’s ok with you,” Seunghyub offered as she stood up with her arms around her file folder. He needed to be close to the compound and having to go to a study cafe in the city just won’t do. His family needed to be together during this moment of uncertainty.

She looked down at her feet again, shifting her weight alternately between them nervously.

“May and some of her friends will be at the house, too,” he assured when she didn’t answer. He leaned in when he heard her whisper something. “What?” he asked softly, straining to hear her.

“Okay,” she repeated, barely above a whisper.

“I’ll pick you up at nine in the morning tomorrow.” He felt relieved, his family will be able to stay in one place. “C’mon.”

Hwiyoung was waiting with May by Seunghyub’s car as he and Minji approached and Minji stopped in her tracks when she saw other human beings in the perimeter . "That's my sister and brother," he told Minji, stopping next to her. "C'mon, I'll introduce you."

"Guys, this is Minji," Seunghyub gestured to Minji, taking out his keys to unlock the car. 

"I'm May and this is Hwiyoung," May smiled kindly, hearing her brother project into her mind that Minji was easy to scare. She gestured to Hwiyoung and the boy nodded politely.

"Hi," Hwiyoung greeted, not used to interacting with such a meek person. All his sisters were outgoing and confident. 

"Hello," Minji's voice was barely above a whisper, Hwiyoung and May looked at Seunghyub who shook his head slightly at them.

"Let's go," Seunghyub announced and Hwiyoung gently pushed May towards the front seat. 

May smiled gratefully at him. Usually, she and Hwiyoung would compete to sit shotgun but he knew that because of what happened today, she would feel safer beside Seunghyub than alone in the backseat. 

He drove to the market, following Minji’s directions to where her family’s apartment was. Just two streets after the market’s block, they made a right then stopped in front of the second building on the left . There was a blue, wooden door with an old, rusty accordion gate and Seunghyub frowned. He was curious as to how their family could afford her studies at their school. New Orleans Academy was not exactly affordable. 

“This is where you live?” He asked, his siblings looking up from their phones when he did. May and Hwiyoung looked at the building in curiosity too.

“Yes,” Minji said quietly, gathering her bags when she noticed their confusion. “I was given a scholarship because of my high grades from my public school in Boston. My parents are trying their best to provide just to take this opportunity for me.”

“Our community is always open to help,” May looked back at Minji in the backseat and offered her a kind smile.

“I’ll let my parents know.” Minji smiled in turn, but she was struggling with the weight of her bags.

“Here, let me help you with that.” Hwiyoung offered, taking Minji’s ridiculously large bookbag and was surprised at the weight of it. He hauled it over his shoulder and started to get out of the car, “You should get a locker.”

\--

Seunghyub was once again jolted awake. For the second time that day, his heart leapt to his throat as May’s screams reached his ears. He struggled to get up, already hearing Hwiyoung and their father’s heavy footsteps rushing towards May’s room. He fought the invisible weight that pinned him to the bed but he forced himself to sit upright. 

When he was barely able to get into a sitting position against the backboard of his bed, he saw it, another darkling. This time it came in the form of Taemi’s drowned body. Its face was grey and wrinkled, its eyes were just white but the most disturbing thing is that its mouth was sewn shut by thick, almost rope-like strings. 

It lifted its hand slowly and began pointing at Seunghyub. He swallowed, unable to move or react, paralysed by some invisible restraint. Then, it forcefully opened its mouth and a ghoulish screech escaped its lips as the strings tore through skin and flesh around it, black liquid dripping from the lesions. He felt like he was drowning as the darkling continued to screech but he was still unable to move. 

He was on the verge of passing out and Seunghyub struggled to concentrate on his breathing when Hwiyoung burst through his door. “HYUNG!” And the darkling disappeared, disintegrated into smoke that Hwiyoung didn’t seem to have seen.

“Did you see that?” released from the illusion, Seunghyub asked without looking at his brother, words lost between heavy breaths.

Hwiyoung looked at the direction Seunghyub was looking at but there was nothing. “There’s nothing there.”

“Taemi—”

“Hyung,” Hwiyoung cut Seunghyub off and pulled the covers off him. “May has hand marks on her neck. She said a shadow was choking her.”

For a moment, he forgot the reason why he woke up. He had heard May scream. As soon as he got his wits about him, he jumped from his bed and quickly made his way to May’s room, Hwiyoung hot on his heels. 

When Seunghyub came in, Jinny, Jaehyun’s mother was already in the room examining the handprints on May’s neck and Jaehyun was just inside the room beside his father.

“What took you so long? ?” Yonghwa asked, pushing himself off the wall he leaned on to face his son.

“Darkling,” Seunghyub answered his father right away, taking the shirt Hwiyoung passed to him and hastily put it on. “It took Taemi’s form, I couldn’t move.”

“Whoever that’s doing this is someone we already know.” Yonghwa concluded, focusing again on May as Jinny casted a healing spell on the handprints on her neck. His little sister didn’t speak, which worried Seunghyub more as he could see the tear stains on her cheeks and the redness in her eyes. “It seems you and May are the targets.”

“Is there a way to prevent May from getting the nightmares?” Seunghyub asked. But Jinny shook her head sadly at his question.

“May is a powerful Seer, maybe even more so than your mother.” Jinny started to explain she concluded her healing spell. “Any spell to prevent her dreams is not going to work.”

Seunghyub’s jaw tightened when he saw that there were still traces of handprints on her neck. Whoever this witch or warlock that’s harassing them, is powerful enough to offset Jinny’s healing.

"This entity is powerful enough to penetrate our defenses, restrain you and hurt May physically." Yonghwa tried to analyze the situation. It didn't make sense, they were a peaceful coven so the events were not out of spite. "Even more worrying is that they are able to do this to you kids without the elders noticing anything."

"The elders will hold a meeting tomorrow and find out who or what is doing this." Jinny announced, getting up and patting Jaehyun's arm. "My darling, you and your brothers and sisters should never let your guard down."

"Yes, mom." Jaehyun nodded solemnly. 

"Don't do everything on your own," Jinny looked at Seunghyub, worry etched across her face. "You have a bad habit of taking all the burden. You and your brothers are more powerful together."

"I understand," Seunghyub accepted the hug Jinny offered him. He missed his mom but his brothers' mothers always made him feel the motherly love he missed.

"We are all here for you," Jinny assured him as she gave him one last squeeze before letting go. Then she turned to her son, "Let's go home and get some rest."

When Jaehyun and Jinny left, Yonghwa, Seunghyub and Hwiyoung all said good night and made moves to go to their own rooms when they heard May call out to them.

"I don't want to be alone." May's voice was shaking and she tearfully grabbed her father's hand. "I'm scared, appa."

"Sweetheart," Yonghwa's face softened considerably, remembering that not only does he have a duty to the coven as an elder, but more importantly, he has a duty as father. "We'll bunk here for the night." He held his daughter as he looked at his two sons, silently telling them to get the items needed to sleep on the floor.

"Yep!" Hwiyoung responded right away, pushing Seunghyub out into the hall.

"You weren't attacked?" Seunghyub asked Hwiyoung right as they walked out of May's room.

“No,” his brother answered as they walked down the hall to their rooms. “I think it’s because I don’t share your blood.”

Seunghyub came to a halt and he looked at his brother with worry. He never once wanted Hwiyoung to feel out of place in their family. Adopted or not, they were siblings.

“You know that doesn’t affect me anymore.” Hwiyoung smiled to comfort him. “I know you see me as a brother whether or not I share your blood. I’m just saying, I’m not blood related to you.”

“They want our blood magic.” Seunghyub concluded, reaching a moment of some realisation.


End file.
